The Corrupted Innocent by Marcus S Lazarus imagines that when Castiel saves Dean from Hell in season 4 of Supernatural, he also retrieves the Winchesters' old adversary and supernatural thief Bela Talbot. Now, Bela tries to figure out a new path in a new life while aiding the Winchesters in their adventures.
The fic can be read here
and here.
The Corrupted Innocent contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: It is confirmed that Bela's father was sexually abusing her in her teens before she made the deal to kill him and her stepmother.
- Adaptational Heroism: While Bela still has her sardonic humor, her experience in Hell has shifted her to want to help people more and atone for some of her past deeds. To a point; where the show had Bela kill her parents because of implied abuse, here it is established that she only killed her father and stepmother, as her biological mother died a few years before.
- Ascended Extra:
- Deanna Campbell only appeared in one episode before being killed off, but here she is brought into the present to become a recurring ally of the Winchesters and basically Bela's official hunting partner.
- Where Bela's father was just a Posthumous Character who she killed years ago, here he returns as a demon to torment the Winchesters and their allies.
- In the epilogue, Sarah Blake has married Sam and the two have a one-year-old son.
- Back from the Dead: The fic starts with Bela being brought back to life along with Dean.
- Bad Future: Quite obviously with the adaptation of the episode "The End" (although a bit more uplifting than the canon version, due to Dean and Bela's daughter acting as a Morality Pet).
- Commuting on a Bus: The best way to describe Sarah Blake's status; after she meets Bela and Deanna while they're on a hunt, Bela encourages her to get back in touch with Sam, and the two begin a tentative long-distance relationship.
- Deal with the Devil: Bela and Deanna are able to make a 'deal' with Crowley where he returns the Colt to them and all they have to do in turn is do just enough damage to him that he can claim he was forced to give it up (while taking care to ensure that they couldn't just kill him and take it that way).
- Deceptive Legacy: As on the show, Dean and Sam are thrown to discover it was their mother's side of the family that was into hunting and their dad barely knew anything about it before Mary's death.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: One chapter gives Bela a chance to talk with her mother, who explains some details of her father's history and how he ended up in such a warped psychological state, even as both of them agree that his past doesn't excuse the way he treated Bela.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Bela has this in spades at the start as the Winchesters clearly don't trust or like her. They eventually come around to accepting her as family, to the extent that she and Dean fall in love.
- It Only Works Once: Basically applies to Bela's immunity to Lucifer as an unbroken Seal; since she can still be seen by Lucifer with his human senses, Castiel warns Bela that Lucifer will be on his guard once he knows about her immunity. As a result, Bela decides to take care when confronting Lucifer, waiting for the right moment when being able to take action against Lucifer and catch him by surprise will be genuinely useful, as opposed to just buying them the advantage for that moment and never again.
- In Spite of a Nail: Bela's presence is unable to prevent key moments of the show from occurring, most notably Ruby tricking Sam into opening the Final Seal.
- Incest-ant Admirer: Bela's father continues to express an unhealthy interest in Bela, with others reacting in disgust once they learn who he is; he makes his debut as a demon possessing fathers to make them rape their own pre-teen daughters as part of a plan to break a Seal.
- Make It Look Like a Struggle: After Crowley confirms that Deanna and Bela want the Colt back, he removes the bullets from the Colt and tosses the hunters a box of bullets (along with instructions on how to make more), and agrees to give them the Colt once he's received a few wounds to make it look like he tried to fight them off, on the understanding that they won't get the Colt if they kill him outright.
- Morality Pet: The future Dean who appeared in "The End" hasn't fallen quite as far as he did in canon because he has to set an example for his daughter, Johanna Winchester, a four-year-old girl who sees him as her hero, future-Dean refusing to resort to indiscriminate death and torture when he has to look at that little girl and keep her innocent.
- Must Be Invited: The need for angels to be given permission by their vessels is discussed.
Word of God speculates that, while angels aren't above torture and coercion, mental manipulation (such as when Zachariah changed Dean and Sam's memories in "It's a Terrible Life") isn't an 'acceptable' means of getting a vessel because the subject wouldn't be saying "Yes" as themselves, creating the risk that the angel would be expelled from a vessel they tried to take under such circumstances. Sam also learns that it wouldn't have counted if the demons had convinced Gary to say "Yes" on his behalf when Gary was possessing his body, as Gary's soul would have been out of alignment with Sam's body. - No-Sell: Applies to Bela to a degree, as due to her status as an unbroken Seal, she is immune to direct assault from Lucifer; just as he couldn't break the Seals himself, Lucifer cannot sense Bela's presence unless he becomes aware of her with the senses of his vessel, and he can't read her mind or wound her with his powers alone, although there's nothing to stop him from throwing things at her.
- Ship Tease: Quite obvious between Dean and Bela to the point that when he takes a trip into the future, Dean is thrown to find the pair have a daughter.
- Shout-Out:
- Deanna and Bela run into Sarah Blake while investigating a case that they speculate was the inspiration for The Picture of Dorian Gray.
- Talking with Sam about the limitations of how angels can get permission from potential vessels reminds Sarah of a storyline from X-Men she was told about by an ex-boyfriend.
- The epilogue shows Dean and Bela's daughter playing with toy Transformers, Dean musing that he's always grateful that his daughter isn't a 'Barbie girl'.
- Spared by the Adaptation: As well as Bela being rescued from Hell and Deanna Campbell being pulled into the future rather than killed, Ellen and Jo Harvelle survive the confrontation with Lucifer because Bela was able to free Castiel from the holy oil circle and let him teleport them to safety. The epilogue sees Sarah Blake in a situation that all but confirms that she won't be killed by Crowley as she was in canon, and the Winchesters are able to save Henry (and possibly Josie) from Abaddon.
- Title Drop: As it turns out, Bela was specifically manipulated to break the Seal of 'The Corrupted Innocent'; a good person makes a deal to escape horrible torment (in this case, being raped by her own father), and would have become an even greater monster if Castiel hadn't been able to save her from Hell.
- Tricked Out Time: During a trip to the past, Dean and Bela manage to bring Mary's mother Deanna Campbell into the present, saving her life without affecting the timeline.
